U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes significant reform to regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act

Today, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services) proposed in the Federal Register the first major regulatory reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA or Act) under the Trump administration. Specifically, in three proposed rules first announced last Thursday (Proposed Rules), the Services unveiled a suite of revisions to the procedures and parameters for listing species as threatened or endangered, for designating critical habitat and the procedures for inter-agency (Section 7) consultation, among others. Publication of the Proposed Rules starts a 60-day public comment period ending on September 24, 2018. Read more to find out four of the most important, and potentially controversial, components of the Proposed Rules.